Fluid flow-2 Lab

Lab Report

Submitted by:
Name Zahra Batool
Fatima Zafar
Aroosa Dilber
Reg No 2022-CHE-208
2022-CH-248
2022-CH-214
Session (Section) 2022 (B)
Semester 4th Spring 2024

Submitted to:

Sir. ASIF JAMIl

Department of Chemical, Polymer, and Composite

Materials Engineering, UET Lahore, New Campus
Safety Precautions:
 Laboratory Rubrics:
Following rubrics are designed for the assessment of laboratory work.
The concerned lab instructor is authorized to decide the weightage of each criteria with the guideline
of domain weightage as: 10 – 30% Cognitive (Sr. # 1); 50 – 80% Psychomotor (Sr. # 2 & 7); 10 –
30% Affective (Sr. # 3 - 6);

Sr.
Criteria Excellent (10) Good (8) Satisfactory (6) Poor (=<4)
#

Has comprehensive Has adequate Has limited Does not know

Knowledge (PLO- knowledge of the knowledge of the knowledge of the anything about the
1
1) equipment and its equipment and its equipment and its equipment and its
application application applications application
Prepares/operates the Prepares/operates the Prepares/operates the Unable to
equipment as per equipment by vaguely equipment neglecting prepare/operates the
Preparation/ following the manual the manual guidelines equipment
Experiment operation manual guidelines guidelines (SOP) (SOP) independently
2 Performance (SOP)
(PLO-4)
Obtained results are Obtained results are
Data Obtained results are neither accurate nor Minimal results
either accurate or
acquisition accurate and precise precise obtained
precise
Completely adheres
Safety measures (PLO- Partially adheres to the Adheres to the basic Does not adhere to
3 to the safety
6) safety guidelines safety guidelines only the safety guidelines
guidelines
Prepares the report
Ethical reporting (PLO- with professional Report partially Report is significantly Report is majorly
4 ethics
8) plagiarized plagiarized
plagiarized
Clearly communicates
Communicates the Communicates the
Communication (PLO- the results however Unsubstantiated
5 results with clarity results without clarity
10) without proper results presented
and justification and justification
justification
Participates actively Participates either as Limited
as an individual and Participates actively participation as an
Individual and team work
6 as a group member either as an individual or an individual or as a individual and as a
(PLO-9)
as a group member team member
group member
Planning Has a creative plan Has a creative plan but
and setup and prepares the requires help/instruction Has a plan but unable No plan; no
Open-ended preparation setup accordingly in preparing the setup to prepare the setup experimental setup
7 lab
(PLO-12) Obtained results are Obtained results are
Data Obtained results are neither accurate nor Minimal results
either accurate or
acquisition accurate and precise precise obtained
precise
Laboratory Layout
 Department of Chemical, Polymer, and Composite Materials Engineering, UET Lahore
(KSK Campus)

RUBRIC CRITERIA AND CORRESPONDING SAMPLE CLO

Criteria Sample CLO statement PLO Domain Level

Describe the operation of fluid flow relevant

2.
Knowledge equipment in order to comprehend their PLO01 Cognitive
Understand
applications
Experiment Precisely perform experiments related to fluid
Performance flow following the guidelines of operating manual PLO04 Psychomotor 3. Precision
Adhere to general and experiment specific safety
Safety measures guidelines. PLO06 Affective 3. Valuing

Ethical reporting Report experimental results with ethical PLO08 Affective 2.

responsibility Responding
Individual and team Participate actively as an individual and as a 2.
work group member in the lab related activities PLO09 Affective
Responding
Communication Effectively communicate the experimental results PLO10 Affective 2.
Responding
Perform new experiment related to fluid flow
Open-ended lab equipment after formulating the experiment based PLO12 Psychomotor 4.
on the relevant literature Articulation
Experiment:01

to observe laminar,transitional and turbulent pipe flow and calculate

reynolds number using osborne reynolds' demonstration apparatus

experiment of fluid flow lab report .

Demonstration:

INTRODUCTION

The experiment is conducted mainly to study the criterion of laminar,

transition and turbulent flow. In fluid mechanics, internal flow is defined as a flow
for which the f luid is confined by a surface. The flow may be laminar or
turbulent. Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1832 – 21 February 1912) was a
prominent innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics and mechanics.

Osborne Reynolds Apparatus consists of water resource for the system

supply, fix-head water input to big and small transparent pipes, dye input by
injection unit, and water output unit to determine water flow rate. The laminar,
transition and turbulent flows can be obtained by varying the water flow rate
using the water outlet control valve. Water flow rate and hence the flow velocity
is measured by the volumetric measuring tank. The supply tank consists of glass
beads to reduce flow disturbances. Flow patterns are visualized using dye
injection through a needle valve. The dye injection r ate can be controlled and
adjusted to improve the quality of flow patterns.

OBJECTIVES

1. To observe the characteristics of laminar, transition and turbulent flow.

2. To prove that the Reynolds number is dimensionless by using the formula;
𝜌𝜈𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
µ

3. To visualize and sketch the flow pattern of a converging diverging nozzle to

give a parallel flow in the contracted outlet using different items.
APPARATUS
* Osborne reynolds’ apparatus

* Dye injector with needle valve control.

* Rota meter flow meter.

* Water supply from a tank with clear test section tube and “bell mouth”
entrance.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

This experiment demonstrates visually laminar (or streamline) flow and its
transition to turbulent flow at a particular velocity.

1. Firstly, the apparatus is set up and insert the red dye into the dye reservoir
with a steady flow of water.
2. The dye is allowed to flow from the nozzle at the entrance of the channel
until a colored stream is visible along the passage. The velocity of water flow
should be increased if the dye accumulates around the nozzle.
3. Adjust the water flow until a laminar flow pattern which is a straight thin line
or streamline of dye is able to be seen along the whole passage.
4. Collect the volume of water that flows for 10 seconds t hen measure the
amount of water in the volumetric measuring tank. Repeat this step 3 times
to get the average and more accurate volume of water. The volume flow rate
is calculated from the volume and a known time.
5. The water flow rate is increased by opening the pipe vessel and the flow
pattern of the fluid is observed. Repeat step 2 4 for transition and turbulent
flow.
Clean all the apparatus after the experiment is done.

THEORY

In fluid mechanics, Reynolds Number (R e ) is a dimensionless number that is

expressed as the ratio of inertial forces (pV 2 /L) to viscous forces (µV/L 2 ). Thus,
the Reynolds number can be simplified as followings;

R e = (pV 2 /L) / (µV/L 2 )

= pVL/µ

Where p is the density of the fluid, V is the mean fluid velocity, L is a

characteristic linear dimension, and µ is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.

When a fluid flows through a pipe the internal roughness (e) of the pipe
wall can create local eddy currents within the fluid adding a resistance to flow of
the fluid. Pipes with smooth walls such as glass, copper, brass and polyethylene
have only a small effect on the frictional resistance. Pipes with less smooth walls
such as concrete, cast iron and stee l will create larger eddy currents which will
sometimes have a significant effect on the frictional resistance. The velocity
profile in a pipe will show that the fluid at the centre of the stream will move
more quickly than the fluid towards the edge of the stream. Therefore friction will
occur between layers within the fluid. Fluids with a high viscosity will flow more
slowly and will generally not support eddy currents and therefore the internal
roughness of the pipe will have no effect on the frictional resistance. This
condition is known as laminar flow.
 Reynolds number basically determines the transition of fluid flow form
laminar flow to turbulent flow. When the value of Reynolds number is less than
2300, laminar flow will occur and the resistance to flow will be independent of
the pipe wall roughness (℮). Meanwhile, turbulent flow occurs when the value of
Reynolds number is exceeding 4000.
For large viscous force, whereby R e value is less than 2300, viscous effects
are great enough to damp any disturbance in the flow and the flow remains
laminar. The flow is called laminar because the flow takes place in layers. Any
combination of low velocity, small diameter, or high kinematic viscosity which
results in R e value of less than 2300 will produce laminar flow. As Re increases,
the viscous damping of flow disturbances or perturbations decreases relative to
the inertial effects. Because of a lack of viscous damping, disturbances are
amplified until the entire flow breaks down into in irregular motion. There is still a
definite flow direction, but there is an irregular motion superimposed on the
average motion. Thus, for turbulent flow in a pipe, the fluid is flowing in the
downstream direction, but fluid particles have an irregular motion in addition to
the average motion. The turbulent fluctuations are inherently unsteady and three
dimensional. As a result, particles which pass though a given point in the flow do
not follow the same path in turbulent flow even though they all are flowing
generally downstream. Flows with 2000 < Re < 4000 are called transitional. The
flow can be unstable and the flow switch back and forth between turbulent and
laminar conditions.
Models of Flow Boundaries:
The bases of flow-boundaries inserted in the working section must be flush with
the glass sheet to prevent leakage of water beneath. Isolated models such as
cylinders should have bases machined at right angles to their vertical axes. Long
walls can be easily made of metal strips but their lower edges must be straight. The
strips may be kept vertical by short lengths of angle (Figure 11.2) fixed on the inner
side of the wall where there is usually no flow; spare cylinders or tees may be
placed on the horizontal legs of the angles to prevent movement of the wall. Any
grease on the models or the working section itself may be removed with a
detergent. Grease repel dust and flow patterns will thus be unrepresentative. All
traces of detergent must be carefully removed from surfaces after cleaning to
prevent the generation of foam a water flows through the tank.

Fig 11.2: Support for walls of The Mobile Bed and Flow Visualization Tank

Suitable depth and velocity of flow:

The hook and point gauge (item 12) can be used to determine the depth of the
water in the working section.

A depth of flow in the working section 40-60mm will usually be satisfactory for
most experiments. Average free-stream velocities (estimated by eye) should be in
the range 30-50mm/s unless otherwise stated in instructions. The flow may
become laminar below this range and may thus be unrepresentative of normally
turbulent flowy) Above this range surface waves and secondary currents may
become so important that a flow pattern intended to be two-dimensional will in
fact be three dimensional.

Recording of flow patterns:

Flow patterns may be recorded accurately (but expensively) on a photograph with

the camera mounted above the working section. The exposure time must be
adjusted by trial and error until a compromise is achieved in which the streak
arising from the fastest and slowest dust particles are neither too long nor too short
Students should sketch flow patterns accurately to scale on squared paper. In
steady flow the paths of dust particles coincide with the streamlines and thus it is
not at of the free stream the spacing between streamlines should be
correspondingly narrow, Figure 11.5 (a). For regions such as turbulent wakes where
the flow is locally unsteady it is more difficult to represent the flow pattern and
two sketches are often necessary. Figure 11.5 (a) shows the equivalent of a short
timeexposure photograph in which the path lines of dust particles in the wake
clearly illustrate the size and distribution of eddies; this sketch nevertheless fails to
show the stead) velocity distribution in the wake on which the turbulent
components are superimposed. Figure 11.5 (b) supplies this information in the
form of the streamline for the steady components in the wake. These components
are deduced from the general trends such as the entrainment process seen at C in
Figure 11.5 (a). The combination of Figures 11.5 (a) and (b) thus provides a more
complete representation of the flow pattern; the former gives an 'instantaneous'
view and the latter a 'time averaged’ view of the motion.
Fig 7.3: Diverging Flow through the Mobile Bed and Flow Visualization Tank

Fig 7.4: Boundaries formed by Tees in the Mobile Bed and Flow Visualization Tank
Fig 7.5: Flow about a cylinder in the Mobile Bed and Flow Visualization Tank
RESULTS

Volume Flow Rate Velocity,

Time Reynolds Type of
( × 10-5 ( × 10-5 V
(s) No. Flow
m3) m3/s) (m/s)

1 3 8.40 2.80 0.1393 2228.8 laminar

2 3 8.00 2.67 0.1328 2124.8 laminar

3 3 9.60 3.20 0.1592 2547.2 transition

4 3 9.40 3.13 0.1557 2491.2 transition

 5 3 13.0 4.33 0.2153 3444.8 transition

6 3 12.4 4.13 0.2054 3286.4 transition

7 3 18.0 6.00 0.2984 4774.4 turbulent

8 3 17.2 5.73 0.2850 4560.0 turbulent

9 3 16.8 5.60 0.2785 4456.0 turbulent

SAMPLE CALCULATIONS

Data Given:

Times = 3 sec

Density of water, ρ = 1000 kg/m³

Viscosity, μ = 10.00 x 10-4 Ns/m² Diameter of tube, d = 16 x 10ˉ³ m

Length, l = 0.103 m

Area of cross passage, a = πd²/4

= π (16 x 10ˉ0³) / 4

= 2.0106 x 10ˉ4 m²

From experiment:

Laminar Flow:

Volume flow rate = volume/ time

 = 8.4 x 10-5 m3 / 3s

= 2.8 x 10-5 m3/s

Velocity, v = (m / ρa) = volume flow rate / area

= 2.8 x 10-5 m3/s ÷ 2.0106x 10-4 m2

= 0.1393 m/s

Reynolds number, Re = ρvd / μ

= (1000 kgm-3 x 0.1393 m/s x 16 x 10-3 m) ÷ 10.00 x 10-4Ns/m2

= 2228.8

* For laminar flow Re should be less than 2300.

Transition Flow:

Volume flow rate = volume/ time

= 9.6 x 10-5 m3 ÷ 3s

= 3.2 x 10-5 m3/s

Velocity, v = (m / ρa) = volume flow rate / x area

= 3.2 x 10-5 m3/s ÷ 2.0106 x 10-4m

= 0.1592 m/s
Reynolds number, Re = ρvd / μ

= (1000 kgm-3 x 0.1592 m/s x 16x 10-3m) ÷ 10.00 ˉ4 Ns/m²

= 2547.2

*For transition flow Re should be in between 2300 and 4000

Turbulent Flow:

Volume flow rate = volume/ time

= 16.8 x 10-5 m3 ÷ 10s

= 5.60 x 10-5 m3/s

Velocity, v = (m / ρa) = volume flow rate / area

= 5.60 x 10-5 m3/s ÷ 2.0106 x 10-4m2

= 0.2785 m/s

Reynolds number, Re = ρvd / μ

= (1000kgm-3x 0.2785 m/s x 0.016m) ÷ 10.00 x 10ˉ4 Ns/m²

= 4456.0

*For turbulent flow Re should be more than 4000

DISCUSSION

It is necessary to know the differences between laminar, turbulent and

transition flow before one is about to conduct this experiment. As for laminar
flow, it is defined as a highly ordered fluid motion with smooth streamlines.
Turbulent flow is much different with laminar, as it is a highly disordered fluid
motion characterized by velocity and fluctuations and eddies, whereas transition
flow is known as a flow that contains both laminar and turbulent regions.

Based on Reynolds apparatus experiment, laminar flow is obtained when a

single ordered line is seen after a thin filament of dye is injected into the
transparent glass tube. There is not much dispersion of dye can be observed
throughout the flowing fluid. Nevertheless, the case is not the same with
turbulent flow, as there is obvious dispersion of dye along the glass tube,
whereby the lines of dye breaks into myriad entangled threads of dye.

Throughout the experiment, we observed that the red dye line starts
flowing in a straight ordered line throug h the glass tube, and as the velocity
increases after some time, the ordered streamlines is seen to begin to disperse at
about the middle of the streamlines, but still remain the straight line at the
earlier part. Next, the dispersion started to increase, indicating the turbulent
flow. These observations are concluded as the streamlines is undergoing a change
of type of flow, which is from laminar flow, transition flow to turbulent flow.

There are a few careless mistakes that have been done during this
experiment. Most of all, the accuracy of collecting the fluid flowing out of the
tube within 3 seconds is a bit inaccurate. The one who collect the fluid might not
begin right when the person monitoring the stopwatch started ticking on it, and
he/she might also not stop collecting exactly after the third second. Therefore,
the values calculated in results section might not be exactly 100% correct.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, as water flow rate is increasing, the

Reynolds number will automatically increase as well, and the red dye line change
from straight line to swirling streamlines. Likewise, it is proven that Reynolds
number is dimensionless, since no unit is representing the value of Reynolds
number.
Laminar flow is obtained if the Reynolds number is less than 2300; meanwhile the
Reynolds number for turbulent flow is more than 4000. The Reynolds number for
transition flow is in between 2300 until 4000.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There are some recommendations to make sure this experiment would attain
more accurate and precise results in the future:

• Check whether the water in the tube flows in a correct way and we should
also make sure that the flow is stable before measuring the flow rate by
monitoring the time taken for collecting an amount of water in the
volumetric measuring tank.

• Before injecting the dye into the fluid, we should make sure the dye is not
too much and not too insufficient. It will be hard to stable the fluid to get a
laminar flow.

• The experiment should be repeated twice to get better result.

 • The person collecting the water should synchronize well with the time
keeper.

REFERENCES

• Fluid Mechanics by Dr. Andrew Sleigh (J. Franzini/E.

Finnemore), McGraw Hill.

• www.unacademy.com
• www.sciencedirect.com
• www.byjus.com
 Experiment no. 2
Objective:
To calculate laminar, transitional and turbulent pipe flow and calculate Reynolds number.

Apparatus:
1. The Osborne Reynolds demonstration unit.
2. Thermometer.
3. Stopwatch.
4. The FME00 Hydraulics Bench.

Procedure:
1. Open the bench control valve slightly until the water tickles down from the overflow
pipe.
2. Open the outlet control valve and adjust the dye control valve until a slow with clear
dye indication is achieved.
3. In order to observe the velocity profile of laminar flow close the bench valve and open
the dye control valve to deposit a drop of dye a bell mouth entry. When the outlet
control valve is spread observe the dye as it deforms to takes up a threedimensional
paraboloid profile.
4. Measure volume flowrate. And temperature of the water.
5. Check the kinematic viscosity from data sheet and calculate Reynolds number.
6. Increase the flowrate and perform calculations accordingly.

Reagents used:
1. Water
2. Blue ink

Observations and Calculations:

Diameter of the pipe = d = 0.01 m
Temperature = 8 C

V = kinematic viscosity = 1.386× 10−6 m2/sec A

= area of the test tube = 7.854 × 10−5𝑚2

Formulas used:
𝑣×𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝑉
 Q = Av

Theory:

What is Fluid Flow?

Fluid Flow is a part of fluid mechanics and deals with fluid dynamics. It involves the motion of
a fluid subjected to unbalanced forces. This motion continues as long as unbalanced forces
are applied.
Types of Fluids Ideal fluid
A fluid is said to be ideal when it cannot be compressed and the viscosity doesn’t fall in the
category of an ideal fluid. It is an imaginary fluid which doesn’t exist in reality.
Real fluid
All the fluids are real as all the fluids possess viscosity.
Newtonian fluid
When the fluid obeys Newton’s law of viscosity, it is known as a Newtonian fluid.
Non-Newtonian fluid
When the fluid doesn’t obey Newton’s law of viscosity, it is known as nonNewtonian fluid.
Ideal plastic fluid
When the shear stress is proportional to the velocity gradient and shear stress is more than
the yield value, it is known as ideal plastic fluid.
Incompressible fluid
When the density of the fluid doesn’t change with the application of external force, it is
known as an incompressible fluid.
Compressible fluid
When the density of the fluid changes with the application of external force, it is known as
compressible fluid.

Types of Fluid Flow:

Viscosity is a measure of the thickness of a fluid, and very gloppy fluids such as motor oil or
shampoo are called viscous fluids.
Laminar flow or streamline flow in pipes (or tubes) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel
layers, with no disruption between the layers. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow
without lateral mixing, and adjacent layers slide past one another like playing cards. There
are no cross-currents perpendicular to the direction of flow, nor eddies or swirls of fluids. In
laminar flow, the motion of the particles of the fluid is very orderly with all particles moving
in straight lines parallel to the pipe walls. Any lateral mixing (mixing at right angles to the
flow direction) occurs by the action of diffusion between layers of the liquid. Diffusion
mixing can be slow however if the diameter of the pipe of the tube is small then this diffusive
mixing can be very significant.

Turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic property changes. This includes a
rapid variation of pressure and flows velocity in space and time. In contrast to laminar flow,
the fluid no longer travels in layers, and mixing across the tube is highly efficient. Flows at
Reynolds numbers larger than 4000 are typically (but not necessarily) turbulent, while those
at low Reynolds numbers below 2300 usually remain laminar. Flow in the range of Reynolds
numbers 2300 to 4000 and known as transition.

Laminar and turbulent flows can exist in the same tube network when operated at different
flow rates. The Reynolds number for a Vapourtec 1mm bore tubular reactor flowing water at
10 ml/min is only slightly above 200. We can safely assume that under normal operating
conditions the flow through to tubing reactors of our flow chemistry systems can be
described as Laminar Flow.

Reynolds number, in fluid mechanics, a criterion of whether fluid (liquid or gas) flow is
absolutely steady (streamlined, or laminar) or on the average steady with small unsteady
fluctuations (turbulent). Whenever the Reynolds number is less than about 2,000, flow in a
pipe is generally laminar, whereas, at values greater than 2,000, flow is usually turbulent.
Actually, the transition between laminar and turbulent flow occurs not at a specific value of
the Reynolds number but in a range usually beginning between 1,000 to 2,000 and extending
upward to between 3,000 and 5,000.
Reynolds Number Formula
It is given by the following relation:

𝑣×𝑑
𝑅𝑒 =
𝑉

Where,

• Re is the Reynolds number

• v is the velocity of flow
• D is the pipe diameter
• V is the viscosity of the fluid
If the Reynolds number calculated is high (greater than 2000), then the flow through the pipe
is said to be turbulent. If Reynolds number is low (less than 2000), the flow is said to be
laminar. Numerically, these are acceptable values, although in general the laminar and
turbulent flows are classified according to a range. Laminar flow falls below Reynolds
number of 1100 and turbulent falls in a range greater than 2200.

Laminar flow is the type of flow in which the fluid travels smoothly in regular paths.
Conversely, turbulent flow isn’t smooth and follows an irregular math with lots of mixing.

Precautions:
1. wear personal protective equipment.
2. Be careful while turning on and off electrical switch.
3. Be careful while recording volumetric flowrate.
4. Perform all the calculations carefully.

Conclusions and Result:

The laminar flow can be visualized by an experiment using ink in a cylindrical tube. The ink is
injected into the middle of a glass tube through which water flows. When the speed of the
water is still slow, the ink does not appear to mix with water; the streamlines are parallel and
are called laminar flow.

A sudden change will occur when the speed of the water increases. Then, the flow
completely disrupts, and the water turns homogenous through the ink. Thus, the streamlines
are chaotic, not linear, and are called turbulent flow.
References:
1. https://www.britannica.com/science/laminar-flow
2. https://www.vapourtec.com/flow-chemistry/laminar-turbulent/
3. https://theconstructor.org/fluid-mechanics/laminar-turbulent-flow/559432/

Additional information: